TY - JOUR KW - Mediterranean diet KW - food consumption KW - food cultures KW - Intangible cultural heritage KW - sustainable diets KW - sustainable food systems AU - Sandro Dernini AU - Elliot Berry AB - The notion of the Mediterranean diet has undergone a progressive evolution over the past 60 years, from a healthy dietary pattern to a sustainable dietary pattern, in which nutrition, food, cultures, people, environment, and sustainability all interact into a new model of a sustainable diet. An overview of the historical antecedents and recent increased interest in the Mediterranean diet is presented and challenges related to how to improve the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet are identified. Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, adherence to the Mediterranean diet model is decreasing for multifactorial influences – life styles changes, food globalization, economic, and socio-cultural factors. These changes pose serious threats to the preservation and transmission of the Mediterranean diet heritage to present and future generations. Today’s challenge is to reverse such trends. A greater focus on the Mediterranean diet’s potential as a sustainable dietary pattern, instead than just on its well-documented healthy benefits, can contribute to its enhancement. More cross-disciplinary studies on environmental, economic and socio-cultural, and sustainability dimensions of the Mediterranean diet are foreseen as a critical need. DO - 10.3389/fnut.2015.00015 N1 - Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A. N2 - The notion of the Mediterranean diet has undergone a progressive evolution over the past 60 years, from a healthy dietary pattern to a sustainable dietary pattern, in which nutrition, food, cultures, people, environment, and sustainability all interact into a new model of a sustainable diet. An overview of the historical antecedents and recent increased interest in the Mediterranean diet is presented and challenges related to how to improve the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet are identified. Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, adherence to the Mediterranean diet model is decreasing for multifactorial influences – life styles changes, food globalization, economic, and socio-cultural factors. These changes pose serious threats to the preservation and transmission of the Mediterranean diet heritage to present and future generations. Today’s challenge is to reverse such trends. A greater focus on the Mediterranean diet’s potential as a sustainable dietary pattern, instead than just on its well-documented healthy benefits, can contribute to its enhancement. More cross-disciplinary studies on environmental, economic and socio-cultural, and sustainability dimensions of the Mediterranean diet are foreseen as a critical need. SP - 15 EP - 15 TI - Mediterranean Diet: From a Healthy Diet to a Sustainable Dietary Pattern. UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84947430322&doi=10.3389%2ffnut.2015.00015&partnerID=40&md5=b985e3c3452d94599238b7032c95166a VL - 2 SN - 2296861X (ISSN) ER -